A new year = new choices

Here we are on the end of another year - I am amazed at how fast time keeps going by. I keep thinking of things I would like to do for the new year - walk 5 miles a day (inside or outside) or just exercise (get moving) a minimum of 1 hour a day... Yeah they sound great on paper (even if it is virtual paper on my computer screen) but I don't know that I really could keep up with that for a whole year... There are a lot of things that I know I couldn't keep up with for a whole year, so why set myself up for disappointment...

Rather I am going to do what I hope you will do as well - resolve to keep making better choices...  

An example - today I had the munchies - the bottle of juice I had with me was not going to cut what my body/mind was telling me I wanted... The thought crossed my mind to go through McDonald's and get an order of fries - but the price stopped me on that - $2-3 for an order of fries, when that much money will buy a whole bag of potatoes that we can make home fries with at home... But I still needed something to eat that I could chew & I knew was gluten free/grain free... I decided on an order of chips and cheese from Taco bell - yes corn meal could be considered a grain, but I think it was a better choice than the McDonald's one...

McDonald's small fries - 230 calories and 11 grams of fat 

Taco Bell chips and cheese - 270 calories and 15 grams of fat...

OK, OK so after I looked it up, it wasn't really the better choice - but guess what - I am more educated now and will make a different decision next time...  LOL

I also now know that a Tostada or a crunchy taco would have only been 170 calories and 10 grams of fat... Again with educating myself so I can make different DECISIONS next time!

So back on track after I realize that I could have made a better decision today - guess what? I won't die from making the wrong decision - I just learn from it an move on... Similar to when I make the wrong decision to eat the wrong thing, or too much of something - I bottle up that feeling of over-full-ness and put it in my memory bank and draw upon it next time I am in the same situation...

Another thing I can learn from today is that I need to pack some healthy snacks that I can have in the car so I don't mess with the drive thru option at all (mind you that was the first time I had gone through a drive through in a LONG time...)  Packing a small baggie of homemade trail mix, or almonds would probably be helpful in the future to have on hand when I just need to CHEW something!  :)

So what am I getting at in my end of the year ramblings?

I am CHOOSING to make healthier decisions in 2013 - one decision at a time - making decisions to a healthier me!  Will you join me?

The end, or just the beginning?

Obviously we all lived through all the hype of the end coming on 12/21/12... So I am referring to the end of another calendar year... For me it signifies the end of one of the healthiest years I have had. I have gone through so many changes this year with my eating and my lifestyle choices... I feel so much better now than I have in a long, long time...

I feel good in my own skin - not worried about what the number on the scale says (even though it is a nice measurement tool at times)...

I feel good in my relationship with my best friend aka my husband - we are closer than we have been in a long time & I like it!

I feel good in the world - trying to find better ways to relate to the world - not knowing when someone may be watching and be inspired, or not inspired by something I say or do...  And paying attention to if I am doing something because I want to or because I think someone else wants me to... I am working on ME!!!

I look forward to the next year - seeing what it holds...

Back to bed...

I really was hoping to see a sign like this today on my way to work...  But unfortunately I did not... :(  Bummer...

I don't know what it is today, but I am really wishing I could just crawl back into bed with snuggly covers and just relax mentally and physically... I might be able to swing that after work today, but unfortunately I think I have to trudge through the day...

I am a bit overwhelmed on how much stuff I have to do and it is creating a mental road block & I just need to bite the bullet (not candy and junk) and put one foot in front of the other and JUST DO IT...

Here we go... going to put on my headphones with some good tunes and start up the treadmill and get to it!

oops...

Saw a picture like this on Facebook today & thought it was pretty amazing to think about...  I am thankfully pretty lean in the fact that I don't LOOK like what the scale says I weigh... But I know there are a few more areas that could use some more conversion to muscle, and I am working on that a little at a time.

My oops title - is because I haven't posted here in almost a month!  Wow...

I am still plugging away at juicing for 2-3 meals per day, eating wheat/grain free, being mostly vegetarian and dairy free...  I get most of my protein from beans - been experimenting with creating my own chili with potatoes, kidney beans (from dry - I soak them before cooking them), tomato paste, and seasonings... my oldest daughter loves it once she adds some onions to it and both of us have been having it for a warm breakfast!  :)

I am trying really hard to get my walking in at work - and at my current pace I will only be a bit short of my goal for the year - the shortage is really from how my workload changed in the summer to be working more on helping with the fires that PDR deals with - and the coordinating the contents cleaning crew and writing the estimates to bill the insurance for the work we do... I really enjoy it - but it starts to wear on me when I am really doing two full time jobs at the same time!  Soon enough we will have an employee in place to take up the slack of what I have been juggling...

I have soo many hats I wear at work - Job Cost Accountant, Office Manager, Contents Manager, Tech support - and general person to ask any questions of LOL...  I enjoy the variety, but not the current feeling of being behind all the time...

Current challenge : trying to keep from eating so much crap!  There are a lot of sugared things that fit into the category of things that I can still eat - vegetarian and wheat free... I keep finding myself consuming WAYYY more of the junk than I should... I contemplated starting another reboot to stop myself... But then thought to myself - if I can have the willpower to reboot (juice only for 3-10 days) then why can't I just STOP eating the junk?  I am starting today on trying to make that adjustment...

I remember when I did my Reboot and how I didn't want to convert to eating - because the juicing for every meal took away the need to make choices - I just had juice all the time - and didn't need to decide what to have...  Well that is sort of a crutch - as I can't juice forever - I have to figure out how to deal with saying NO to the junk and get past it... I was able to do a juice fast and say no to that stuff for 7 days, why can't I say no to that stuff while eating normally... I will report back how that goes... :)

Be an inspiration

You NEVER know when someone may be inspired by something you do or say, or don't say...  Be true to yourself and your spirit and always follow your heart to do good all around you...

My heart is warm because I was told today that I inspired someone...

I got a hug from Jesse today!

Jesse from season 11 of the Biggest Loser was in my office today taking a CE class... I got a hug from him!

He kept coming into my office today and watching me walk on my treadmill at my Trekdesk...  We started talking a bunch about health and fitness and how God works in mysterious ways - for our paths to cross and for him to meet me...  This just warms my heart...

I love sharing what I am learning on my journey & what has worked for me. We are all different & different things work for each of us...  What I have said has worked for me before, doesn't work anymore... I think it is all my changing body and it needing change...  Which goes to say that just because something has worked for someone else, doesn't always mean it will work for you... It is about not being afraid to make a change and experiment and see what works for YOU!

Beans and curves

In the process of reading the Eat to Live book, I am learning about the benefits of eating more beans in my diet... I bought several types at Winco to try out cooking on my own (with Mikey's help)... Got pinto, navy and kidney beans...

Today I soaked the pinto beans all day while I was at work and then Mike cooked them for me...  I tried them after they were cooked and they were pretty bland, but I decided to make them into refried beans...  By simply adding taco seasoning, mashing them up a bit and then using the mixer to smooth them out some more - they came out really good... And instead of eating canned refried beans, I know EXACTLY what is in these beans...

Why, you ask, do you have curves in the title too?  Well the last 10 lbs I have lost has made some curves show up on my sides... And that is exciting to me!  To SEE the difference emerging and changes in my body... Sooo exciting!

1000 miles!

Today I passed the the 1000 mile mark of walking at my trekdesk!  That is such an accomplishment in my book considering I walked a total of 620 miles in all of 2011...  Not sure I will make it to my goal of 1250 for the year with the change in workload I have at work - but I can sure try!

A new way of thinking

My coworker that I talk with a lot about nutrition and ways to find new, better ways to live healthier found this food pyramid to go along with the Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead video...

It is really a good guideline for me to strive towards.  Not sure about the once weekly on poultry and eggs though... As I really like chicken for lean protein to eat.

Thought I would share it on here...

I am really, really interested in trying this way of living...

It will be an adjustment, but I am game if it leads to a healthier me...

Which lead me to looking up how to cook beans...

I will let you know how my first try goes at doing this...

Still thinking and researching...

Found the above diagrams today on the web & found them to be very interesting... A good way to look at things and think about it...

If I can continue to juice a few times a day, and eat a sensible snack and dinner (salad with protein), perhaps I can continue on the cleansing and have an easier time when it is time for maintenance and avoid the rebound...

Right now I find it much easier to just juice than make ANY decisions about what to eat...  And I don't find myself craving anything - which is really strange to me... Sometimes I will go to reach for something out of habit, but I have been stopping myself and asking if I really want that, or if I am just absentmindedly grabbing for it...  Most of the time it is the latter of the two.

I hope to put that into practice at my office this week as well, as I know there will still be a large candy dish in there that I have resisted so far, and I want to keep that resolve up especially when I am stressed.

One day at a time, still thinking about how to go forward and what path will work best for me over my lifetime.

Random thoughts

Found this today on Facebook - it is a good reminder...

The above picture helps me remember that it isn't about the number on the scale, it's about FEELING and BEING healthier...  I am trying to get there...  One step at a time...

When I posted the quote that Not eating was easy and it's the eating that is hard, I didn't realize that coming off the juice fast would totally prove that statement to me...

I continue to be at a loss of what I should eat... I have gone from a diet that I was eating balanced carbs/proteins/fats at each meal, to having 100% fruits and veggies (mostly in juice form) to trying to go back to eating more solids things...

Before heading off to Chuck E Cheese's for one of the kid's birthday parties last night I decided to try to get some protein in - toasted a can of tuna with a few olives and grated cheese melted over it - a tuna melt minus a shell of any sort... About an hour later my stomach decided that was NOT what it wanted to eat at all...  Man was it mad (it didn't even get that mad the whole time I was on juice fast!)

So now I am back in my brain thinking that just juicing for two meals a day would be the easiest and have a little bit of this and that throughout the day as well so I am not totally excluding myself from everything else in the world...  Then have a salad with a chicken breast on it (if my stomach can tolerate a chicken breast - I have yet to try) for dinner with the family and an apple and almond butter with it for an evening snack... I think it sounds like a plan - assuming my stomach will tolerate the chicken...

That keeps me in the realm of continuing going to the grocery store every few days to get the veggies I need for my juicing - but hey - if I can do a mixture of juicing and sensible eating and get continued health results, it sounds great to me!

Juice fast update

So I am 5.5 days into my juice fast and I am down 9.5 lbs and feeling pretty good... The most exciting thing was this morning SEEING a change in my torso - my stomach/rib area is more defined... That makes me feel so good!

I honestly cringe at the smell of my juice now, but with the exception of the bottom of the glass, it tastes way better than it smells - which is a good thing...

I am planning ahead to starting to eat again tonight... Planning a salad and maybe a bit of chicken breast. From what I have read online they say to ease back into solids to give your digestive system a chance to adjust.  So waiting to have fleshy meats, and too much dairy is what is recommended...  I will try different things a bit at a time and see how I feel... Hoping to not make any mistakes along the way...  And if I do, I will be sure to learn from them - because what good are mistakes if we don't learn from them?

I plan to try to continue to have at least one juice a day to get in the vegetables that I really don't care for eating... Yes I will eat actual salads daily, but I can't eat 4 large carrots, an apple, a cup of spinach, a beet, and 1/2 a cucumber in one sitting, like I can in one juice...  So there is a point there to be taken for myself...

I will sign off for now with a saying that I found on the net last night - Not eating is EASY, it's the eating that is difficult!

Thoughts on healthy choices at 96 hours of juice fasting

Friday 2pm to Sat 2pm = 24 hours

Sat 2pm to Sun 2pm = 24 hours

Sun 2pm to Mon 2pm = 24 hours

Mon 2pm to Tues 2pm = 24 hours

Quick addition - that equals 96 hours

96 hours without sugar (other than those found in apples and veggies)
96 hours without dairy products
96 hours without gum
96 hours without artificial sweeteners
96 hours without meat
96 hours without candy, cookies, sweets
96 hours without eating what the rest of my family is having for dinner
96 hours without eating a traditional salad...
96 hours... Wow that is crazy...

Today is the first day of the 96 hours that I am starting to think about when I get to eat more than my juice that I am having on my juice fast...

Not really cravings, but just thinking about it more... Not sure why that is...  I am trying to be methodical about it and plan out the choices that I want to make...  Will I go back into the routine of foods that I was eating on a normal basis for my meals (the healthy choice ones)...

Do I really need to have as much protein as I was having in my morning meal of 1 whole egg along with 4 egg whites scrambled?

What would happen if I stayed dairy free?

What if, what if...  I wish there were an arrow pointing what direction I should go for myself and by health...  How much longer to do the juice fast? (am I compromising anything by trying to do it up to one week?) And what direction from there?

Stay tuned while I figure it out for myself...

Happy Milestone 50lbs lost

22 months in the making, and I have hit 50lbs lost since December 2010...

Happy Day... My juice fasting helped me get past my plateau and into a new realm of numbers on the scale! :)

Dinner Table

So I am typing here while my family is at the dinner table...  Why am I not there with them? Because I am choosing to try this juice fasting thing & don't think that I can keep myself from eating any of the homemade potato chip fries that they are having with their hamburgers right now...

It is not that I crave them, and I am not hungry, it is just that I don't think I could keep from eating them if I went and sat at the table...  Soon enough I will be done with this reboot and will resume being at the dinner table with the family... I miss the talking and such, but don't think I should go there now...

On another note I did get my rotation done with my summer clothes to the fall/winter ones... This will be fun to have a new selection of stuff to pick from to wear, and I may find that I need to buy a few new things that are a bit smaller... :)  As I really don't like wearing baggy baggy things anymore...

Day 2 of all Juice

So Friday night I had a juice for dinner, and ever since then I have had vegetable/fruit juice to drink...  Along with water in between...

Last night, concerned about the amount of calories I had taken in, I ate an apple at bedtime to end up my day with approx 850 calories...

I haven't had cravings for anything. And the juices have been leaving me feeling full.

My biggest challenge has been making the juices every 3 hours to have the freshest juice I can have... I did that all day yesterday & the cleanup is a pain - only a few minutes in reality - but annoying non-the-less because it meant cleaning out the drying rack each time I wanted to clean off the juicer... I know little things, but still...

Today I chose to make a double batch in the morning so I would cut down on at least one juicing session... And tomorrow I will need to make a triple batch in the morning to get myself through the day (to have one in the morning and take 2 with me to work...)  Figured out just multiplying the amount of stuff in the batch and stopping to pour the juice into a pouring bowl at intervals before it overflowed the juice catcher on the machine.  And luckily the pulp catcher is plenty big to be able to accommodate the pulp from a larger batch. So happy I learned early on to line the pulp catch basis with a produce bag so there is little cleanup in that department!

I chose to eat an apple last night (after discovering the apple sauce in the fridge had been open too long and turned into a science experiment) because I didn't want to have to clean the juicer again... The apple, oh the apple... It tasted heavenly...  I can totally see how this will work as a RESET for my taste buds .. Especially when I have only found once that I have a concoction that tasted really good... Otherwise it has been a bit "blech" by the time I get to the bottom of the cup... But it is all in the interest of getting healthier and that is what matters...

And during this juice fast I am trying to think and research what my reset should be like - what will I eat when I am done?

• What will be different?  
• Will it be less sugar? 
• Will it be less dairy and eggs? 
• Will it be more raw foods?  
• Will it simply being accustomed to taking in a juice a day on an ongoing basis to be sure that I am getting in some veggies everyday?  (As I wasn't before other than a bit of lettuce, carrots, and peas and a 16 oz juice has to have about 20x more veggies in it)  

At this point I don't know what the change will be, but I don't want to have done this for nothing... We will see...

Time to work on swapping out the season of clothes in my closet - capris and really short sleeve shirts are going to storage and some sweaters, coats, and long sleeve stuff gets to come into the house!

Another Juicy Dinner

Tonight's ingredients:  1/2 head of romaine lettuce, 1 beet, 1/2 cucumber, 3 carrots, 1 Green Apple = Nummy!!!

I was amazed at the colors that came out of it - almost like rainbow sherbet.

My cup of juice...

Down the hatch, and this one tasted the best out of all I have had so far!

Another juicy creation

Here's tonight's creation - 4 carrots, 1/2 cucumber, 1/2 beet, 1 green apple, 1/4 head of romaine lettuce

Always funny to see what color it turns out - this was vibrant with the orange from the carrots and the red from the beet being primary

Got smart and lined the pulp catcher - that's what it looks like after it juices what I put into it...

This is the basket and blades that spin really fast to extract the juice from the fruit and veggies

Here's what it looked like in the glass... Was pretty good...

Found this article interesting today about not really needing proteins for our bodies - but more the amino acids we get from the proteins - and the fruits and veggies have amino acids in them and when we juice them the amino acids are instantly ready for our bodies to use!
Information on Protein Myths

Another interesting article...
Successful Juice Fasting

Until tomorrow with another update from my juicer!  :)

This was what I needed

So I have been talking a lot lately with others about the power of photoshop and how people can look so different with photo shop and even with just a bit of pampering...

I just found this website that shows how true this can be...

While I don't think these are photo shopped - it truly shows how pampering and such can make someone look and feel so much different...

I WILL PAMPER myself with a makeover like one of these for my upcoming 40th birthday!  :)

Before and afters by Sue Bryce

My first time juicing... and more...

Mike suggested I start simple with things I know I like...  So we have apples and carrots here.

I couldn't put the apples in whole - something about knowing part of the stem and seeds would /could be in what I was eating/drinking just wasn't right

Here's what I ended up with in the Juice side

Part of what ended up in the pulp side - pretty amazing how DRY the stuff was - the juicer did it's job!

And my "orange" juice...  Wasn't too bad...

Obviously when you are on to a new idea that might help you become healthier you/I go to the internet to learn more about it and understand the questions that are rattling around in my brain...

I found this article very informative of what happens when you juice fast and how it does good things for your body & how you can survive without eating the proteins we are accustomed to (tuna, chicken, protein powder, eggs and the like)
Juice Fasting

I also got out of it:

• It is about breaking food addictions and reestablishing healthy eating
• Clearing toxins from our systems
• Resetting our minds about sugars and other things
• This is about permanently changing your eating-paradigm and never going back. Never! There is a place for enjoying a treat here and there but you know as well as I do that was never the problem!

Here's another article on the same website that was very informative:

Fasting for weight loss

Stay tuned for more adventures from the juicer... Tomorrow I may go wild and add something GREEN to the juice...

Juicing?

I watched this movie on netflix last night & it was great!  Which lead me to seeking out a juicer to try...  Was looking for a Breville one like they use in the movie and my coworker uses (they make entry level ones for $100), but not knowing how much I really will get into doing this, I decided to try a used one to begin with...

This Oster 3167 is what I ended up with at my 2nd thrift store stop today...

Then I went to the grocery store to get some more fresh stuff... I got to try a juice that my coworker had made from carrots, apple, cucumber and beets this morning and it was pretty good (aside from an aftertaste)... So I knew I was ready to at least try...

Shoulda saw me in the store trying to figure out what a beet looked like - as I have NEVER been one to like veggies... Right now (a starting point) I will eat dark leaf lettuce, apples, peas, and carrots... That's it so this will be an adventure in getting myself to try other things and see how it all goes...

I was worried about trying different recipes out, but Mike came up with a great idea of just juicing things that I know I like already and then adding other things to it and see how that goes...

So I am off to make some carrot and apple juice to try out the Oster and I will report back on how that goes... :)

Yikes & Success

I "love" the emotional roller coaster that my mind/body goes through in my PMS-ing week...  I feel like curling up with a teddy bear and crying myself to sleep most of the time... :(

This coupled with being frustrated to not see the scale move at all off of the plateau that I have been on - even with the month of being grain-free & with increasing my exercise.  (insert comment about chocolate being so damn tasty and grain free!  LOL)

But this morning I was thinking about a conversation I had with my Mom after she met with a lap band Dr to evaluate the status of the lapband that was put in by another doctor 9 years ago... The Dr was stating that she was a SUCCESS because she had kept off 75 lbs over 9 years... Yes, at one point she weighed a lot less and has gained some weight back, but 75 down from her highest is still a success!

So I stopped to think about my success... I am down 50 lbs from my highest & feel pretty good all the time (aside from the stupid PMS week!!!)  Yes, at one point I was 65 lbs less than I am now, but I wasn't happy at that weight either...  Yes I would like to weigh about 25 lbs less than I do now, but if I am happy and healthy, then there really isn't a hurry to get there...  I have to remember to focus on the Success that I have already had and feel proud that I am maintaining that weight loss and that = SUCCESS!

For now I will continue to find ways to stir up my body to get past this plateau - adding weights, more variations on exercise and the like...  And continue with my grain free diet and try to figure out reducing some sugars as well (one thing at a time right? and trying to make decisions and changes that I can live with for a lifetime!)

Unintentional wheat consumption = Blech...

This little tiny fun size milky way had enough wheat flour in it to make me want to Ralph...  I didn't realize it had any wheat flour in it until after I ate one and didn't feel so good...  Then I looked up the ingredients again and found out that, yep, it has wheat flour in it...  3 weeks without wheat flour and one little bit of it made me feel sick... That's enough proof for me...   I will keep at my wheat free/grain free living and see where it leads me...

Alternatives

The other night Jenna (my tween-aged daughter) had a slumber party and they were having pizza for dinner... I was trying really hard not to go in the room to be tempted to eat any of it (and the wheat that is in the crust that I have tried so hard to avoid for the last few weeks)...  Until I thought of using one of my flax seed wraps (really they taste better than they sound) and using it to make a little pizza for myself!

The picture above is what I came up with - pepperoni's, tomato sauce, cheese and olives... It was really good after I toasted it in the toaster oven...

Yum...

Not a diet!!

Today there were left over donuts in the office and I mentioned to someone that I wasn't going to have one because I haven't had wheat in 11 days now... The comment I heard was "Oh you are on the "no bread DIET""...  The comment made me take a step back as he was commenting on it like it was a fad diet...  Oh, oh, oh the uneducated out there...  I tried to tell him it wasn't just "no bread" it was no wheat/or grains...  

His comment back, well if you are going to eat bread, wheat bread is better than white bread for you... Really?  Does he know that both come from the same grains - just one is processed more and BLEACHED???  Insert some head shaking here...

This has always been my philosophy - at least this go around on losing weight... It can't be a temporary diet, or time that you exercise a bunch, or eat a certain way - in order to have long term weight loss we have to find what works for our bodies as far as exercise and the foods we ingest that we can live with forever...

I love the logo above enough that I may put it as my Facebook profile picture for awhile...  :)

For the record (mainly mine) I stopped eating wheat containing products on 8/17 and ended the consumption of oats on 8/26... and once the 2 loaves of commercial "gluten free" breads are used up from my fridge I will be pretty much done with rice flour - may use it here and there - but enjoying trying recipes with almond meal and coconut flour and flax seed right now...  So happy to have received the Coconut flour from Amazon so I can try baking some more stuff tonight :)

Checking out the Wheat Belly way of eating

So I started to read up on the theory behind the wheat belly book after hearing some people talk about it on Facebook  I put a hold request on the book at  the library, but it is like a 60 day wait, so I just decided to purchase the book - thanks Amazon!

I started reading a bit of it - with my limited reading time available each day, and decided last Friday to start to give it a try... I have eliminated WHEAT from my diet for 5 days now & feel pretty good... I figured out making some of my oatmeal monster cookies with rice flour & some oatmeal pancakes to have as part of my meals that I have throughout the day... I have sought out stuff that is labeled "Gluten free" at stores - with a few different loaves of Gluten free bread in the freezer to try out...

That has gone pretty well, until I started to read more on the Wheat Belly posts (while looking for recipes) and in the book - and came across the fact that the stuff they commercially sell as "gluten free" isn't the best stuff for you - it contains the cheapest wheat alternative ingredients you can find - rice flour, potato starch and tapioca flour... All things that are fine if you are not trying to lose any weight - but if you are trying to lose weight they aren't good - as they cause higher blood sugar level spikes than the wheat itself does!

Color me frustrated when I realized this...  I felt crushed and defeated that I wasn't making any better of choices for myself...  Which also explains why I haven't seen the scale move at all from my change 5 days ago too...

Just when I was thinking that I would have to resort to only eating egg white omelets and drinking my protein milk - I remembered the one place I haven't checked out for a local source of almond meal/flour and other "better" flours that won't cause a blood sugar spike that counteracts all I am trying to do...  Trader Joes... I am hoping to go there today & then be all set to try some recipes tonight and see what sort of creations I can come up with that might make this way of eating tolerable, or even enjoyable in the long run... :)

I sort of remember a similar thought process of being overwhelmed when I was thinking of changing my eating habits to be more "balanced" eating a balance of protein, fat and carbs at each meal - but that worked out - it is just time to figure out a new balance using some different ingredients... Hoping to be able to do the wheat-free and balanced eating all in one and find a way to shed another 20-25 lbs to be healthier...

I will still slowly use up the stuff that I have purchased that was commercialized gluten free items - but I feel a bit better now...

Had to share this funny from my husband as well - I was talking to him about my frustration this morning & he suggested I just go to a corset... I asked him what the heck he was talking about ...  He said isn't that the solution to it all - no need for a band, or to cut out part of your intestines, or staple your stomach - just wear a corset and you won't have room for anything else in your stomach... LOL  Silly guy - that's why I love him!

Hungry?

Here I am at work this morning and all I can think of is eating something... Do I need to eat right now?  No... I at a decent and balanced breakfast just two hours ago, I shouldn't need to eat anything else for another hour...

The mental hunger drives me nuts... Causes me to graze on stuff that I don't need to be eating...  The red vines in the other room, the cookies at home, the junk that is just around - mind you I am working on clearing out some of the stuff at home so there will be better choices around - not junk...

So for now, I blog to share my feelings, as I know others are out there with the same feelings - I am not alone in that...  I walk at my trekdesk - because it is hard to reach the redvines in the other room while walking at my Trekdesk.  And I sip at my water bottle, and chew some gum...

Time to eat will come soon enough and hopefully it will satisfy that little guy in my head that is telling me I need to eat sooner than I should...

Enough

It is time to be serious about my health again...  I find myself just eating and eating to be eating and not even enjoying what I am munching on...

I set a goal for myself to be at a certain point by my birthday in January... It won't be the end of the world if  I don't make it, but at least down the road to get there by then would be good.

My plan for now is to catch myself when I am just grazing and either STOP, or find a healthier alternative to what I am chowing down on...  So today I have carrots to munch on instead of the licorice that is in the office.

Also if I am going to munch on something - I am going to make darn sure it is something that I am enjoying... Eating to be eating is one thing, but if I am eating and not even enjoying the stuff that I am eating then what is the point?

Looking forward to the school year starting again so I can get back into going to the Zumba classes that I enjoy and keep my body moving in other ways... The teacher offers some classes at her home right now two days a week - but they aren't as convenient to go to when they are at her home (though I really enjoy her company), and I feel bad being gone from home so long on these summer days, so I just don't go...

If it would cool off again and be pleasant to walk in the evenings with the kids again, I would like that a lot as well... I really enjoy the walks and talking that we have when we go...

Miles are low this month...

This month has been a crazy whirlwind of a month... Started off not feeling too well for a week or so... Then ended up working two full time positions at work for a few weeks - REALLY BUSY...

So the low mileage is what it is... Still trying to make good choices/better choices as I can and seem to be maintaining my weight which is a success in itself...

Hope to be more "normal" next month and get at least up to 100 miles again...

We will see...

2012 miles

Last week I hit the 700 mile mark for 2012... You may think, "so what," - well it's a milestone - as I only walked 692 miles at my trekdesk in 2011... So it is a big deal in my mind because I passed last year's amount of miles!  Wahoo!

I thought the cartoon below was really cute, a good reminder about fitting in exercise in our day - I am thankful I discovered  the trekdesk and that it works so well for my life - because fitting in exercise daily outside of work would be a challenge - but it can be done!

~enjoy~

Melt Method

So I have been slacking on posting on here, mainly because I have been busy, busy at work lately...  I still need to do an update of my walking progress through May onto here - but for now it will need to wait...

The last post I did was about PAIN... And I am happy to report that the pain I was experiencing at that time has gone away... :)

I met up with my Zumba teacher (and now friend) at her house for a workout that she and one other gal and I were going to work on some new routines she was working on...  Before we did that she introduced me to the Melt Method...  http://www.meltmethod.com/ 

I told her about the pain I was having in my back and my knees and she told me it sounded like those areas were dehydrated and she walked me through trying the Melt Method that stimulates hydration in your tissues and helps you feel better...

I was hooked after one time - my knee pain was gone right away!  It was great...

The strangest thing about it is you do an assessment before doing the treatment where you lean forward and let your arms dangle from the waist - without bending over...  Then you do a treatment on one side and reassess - and the side that you have treated will be able to reach further than the un-treated side!  Then they even back out after you treat the second side... It is really amazing...

Right now I am borrowing a mini-kit with just one set of the balls and a leaflet that explains how to do the treatments - but I will have a kit like is shown above when her order comes in... :)  Then I will have the DVD that I can watch to verify I am doing everything correctly & two sets of the treatment balls in case I want to show someone else how to do it at the same time!

I love being able to learn how to take care of my own ailments... :)

~enjoy~

Wish it was simple...

I wish it was simple...
I wish pain was as simple as having an ache or pain and a little flag would come up and say "this is from exercise class" or "this is because you are still carrying too much weight on your frame" or "your walking at your trekdesk is hurting your joints..."

If it was only that simple...

Why do I ask this?  Well my knees - BOTH of them started hurting yesterday, but I don't know why - I understand why on my right side where my sprained ankle is, but I don't understand it on the left side...  Thoughts that go through my head are similar to the ones above - is it from what we did in Zumba on Monday, from still carrying about 40 lbs too much on my frame, from my repetitive walking at my trekdesk, or from the jogging I did at the parade on Saturday (to catch up with the float we were walking with - when I had slowed down to interact with a child I was handing candy to...)  So many variables - no answers...  I guess I just keep taking it easy in exercise class, and listen to my body for everything else (still keeping up with my 5 miles a day at work) and hope that it feels better soon...

I really don't want to have an injury limit me any more - I am already tapered back from what I would really like to be doing...

Which gets me thinking of other things that I CAN be doing - adding some weight workouts - something that will work on burning fat, toning my body, and be gentle on my knees and ankles that I don't want to risk any more injury to...

Time to try to focus on that some more a few times a week...  Perhaps that will be what will make the difference in where the scale is STUCK...

Just passed the 600 mile mark!

Wow-ee on passing the 600 mile mark in miles walked in 2012 today!  Pretty cool to be less than 100 miles away from my total miles walked in 2011!  :)

Yes this is short and sweet - but I have to get off to my Bellyfit class - exercise for my body and soul!  I love these classes... :)

Giving myself a free pass

I fell yesterday in Zumba class - rolled my ankle and fell to the floor... it was embarrassing...

Everyone in class was so sweet though -they stopped the music and doted over me like a bunch of hens taking care of an injured chick...  I had ice a pillow to prop my foot up, a towel to dry my tears and lots of "are you ok's?"

I iced it last night & it was still pretty swollen this morning...  I decided since I am already set up with a Foot and Ankle DR to go get it checked out... I didn't break anything... That's good...  From the x-ray he could tell me that I have injured my foot before - as there is some degenerative arthritis in all the areas of my ankle...  Nothing chronic - but there is some deterioration & some spurring...

Today it is just a Type 2 sprain - and he suggested a brace to wear all the time while it heals & when exercising for the next year or so - it just supports the ankle to help it keep from rolling...

So after walking for 1 mile this morning - before deciding I shouldn't do that any more until I knew for sure I hadn't broken my ankle - I am giving myself a free pass to not get to the 5 miles today...  It feels weird to be sitting a top a stool at my Trekdesk - but it is what it is... I will be back at it tomorrow...